Commuter

Friday night, I went to see the new Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris. It was lovely - not sure what other word to use, it wasn't exactly fun or great or that interesting, but still enjoyable and lovely - all about nostalgia. Wanting to live in a different era. One thinks that Paris in the 1920's was the golden age and hanging out with Hemingway and his friends would be ultimate happiness. Another from the 20's longs to be in the 1890's with Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. And most likely, those in the 1890's, if had the choice, would have wanted to live in some earlier era. It's a sort of a disease of the human mind: not being able to live in the present. We constantly travel through time, allowed by memories, which we all should admit, are not entirely accurate representations of the past. Hence, nostalgia makes everything seem better and shinier.

So, on my way out of the movie theater, I felt a longing towards my room: the room I called home for more than 5 years in apartment 12B. I wanted to curl up on my couch (no longer mine) and turn on the TV to one of my 5 channels and just lie there, not thinking about anything in particular - maybe Budapest in the 1990's. Instead, I hopped on my bike, rode through Central Park in the dark cool early summer air, I felt like I was flying! I was home, in my new home, in maybe 15 minutes from the Upper East Side. Wonderful commute. When I walked into 4A, my new roommate was watching old movies from the 80's: Mark Wahlberg had long flowing hair! We sat and watched the movie for a little while, making fun of the weird haircuts and ridiculous jokes. It was so much nicer than contemplating alone on my couch. Not even mentioning the warm licks of Sasha, the friendliest dog, on my feet.



So do I miss 12B? Not really, actually. So far, I am very happy with everything but one thing at my new place: not enough space for all my crap! That was to be expected. And a trip to Target almost solved that problem: bed-raisers and space-bags are the best inventions of the 21st century! All the things I really like so far: waking up on Sunday morning to a gospel service in the neighboring church; my window looking out onto a tree-lined street where kids play ball in the afternoon; the 99 cent store across the street; Target on my street; cheap groceries; the liveliness of the neighborhood on a Saturday morning; the free summer Saturday morning yoga classes in the East Harlem Community Garden; the 5 minute walk to Central Park; a full sized refrigerator, a dishwasher we use as a drying rack; counter space; the living room; having a talkative and sociable roommate. I am sure as I explore more around here, I will come up with many more, but for now, I am pretty happy. In addition, on my run yesterday, I was forced to run up Harlem Hill during the first mile, which was tough, but made the rest of the run so much nicer! Little things...

And, maybe most surprisingly, I love the commute. I don't wish I still lived across the street from the lab. I really like those 30 or so minutes in the morning when I am walking/biking/on the subway; I feel like I get to work more awake and relaxed. It reminds me, I heard a very interesting talk about intelligence and creativity last night. Scientists who study the brain using imaging and biochemical studies apparently found that temporary inactivation of the frontal lobe is associated with creative moments. I am not entirely sure I understood it correctly, but I think what that means is that when we manage to close out the "noise" bombarding us constantly and thus, the frontal lobe gets "a break", it is able to come up with awesome things. I think I have experienced this a lot myself: not to say that I am a genius but I have gotten great ideas while not thinking about anything in particular, especially during running. Clear the mind of junk and there is space for other more important and beautiful things. Thus, commuting will be a very productive time for me, possibly :)

But now, onto unpacking those few boxes left...